‘He looks 27’: Karate Kid sends internet into a frenzy with age-defying appearance

Fans can’t get over how young Karate Kid star Ralph Macchio looks, after he recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The 59-year-old actor joined the show on Tuesday night to talk about the new season of Netflix hit series Cobra Kai, which continues the story of his Karate Kid character and arch-enemy Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). But viewers at home couldn’t help but notice the American actor hasn’t aged since the franchise’s first instalment hit cinemas in 1984.

The talk show shared a clip of the interview on their official Twitter page, and fans were quick to comment on Macchio’s youthful looks.

Twitter user @lillolee wrote, “Why does @ralphmacchio look younger now than he did in ’84?”

Meanwhile, @dinastavola joked she’d like whatever is keeping Macchio “looking perpetually 30”, saying, “maybe #MrMiyagi taught him some ancient anti-ageing secrets? I feel like I’m in a time warp every time I see him & I LOVE it!”

@toxicfemininit2 said he looks more like 27, while @Letizia_A_G_ commented, “I mean, he was 28 in the third [Karate Kid] movie, yet he looked like he was barely 17. What is this man’s secret?”

Was the kick actually legal⁉️
Was Daniel LaRusso ???????????????????????? the underdog, or is he actually kind of a bully⁉️@RalphMacchio sets the record straight in The Final Word: #CobraKai Edition! ???? #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/o128bYjlC7

— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) January 6, 2021

And it seems as though the actor has always looked younger. Macchio was 22 when he played teen martial arts student Daniel LaRusso in 1984’s The Karate Kid. And he was in his 30s, married and with a kid on the way when he appeared as a college student in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny.

So what’s his secret? Macchio recently told People magazine he has his parents to thank for his good genes. His father is half Greek and half Italian, while his mother is Italian.

“Listen, I blame my parents,” he said. “They both look very young for their age. I have a youthful energy about me for some reason. A healthy lifestyle doesn’t hurt. But I think I’ve just gotten lucky in the gene department.”